ACUTA’s annual conference to focus on new technologies, thinking, leadership

Conference topics will focus on how technology's changing nature impacts students and edcators.

The Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education (ACUTA) will kick off its 41st Annual Conference and Exhibition on April 29, 2012, in Indianapolis.

Three featured keynote speakers will cover a wide range of topics relevant for today’s higher education technology professionals.

Brad Wheeler, vice president for Information Technology and CIO at Indiana University, has focused on understanding and leading in the use of digital networks. As colleges and universities rethink their approach to reliable, policy-aligned services through means of aggregation, scale, and unprecedented agility, we must also rethink our approach. What new models should we favor and why? At what pace? What are the risks and rewards of stewardship and leadership in an era of shifting economics for education? Wheeler will speak on April 30 at 8 a.m.

Futrist David Zach works with universities, businesses, and associations to help them understand how to think about the future, change, and continuity – and how to make choices about them. In his entertaining and thought-provoking tour of modern times on May 1 at 8 a.m., David Zach will deliver useful answers to some of today’s biggest questions. Do we really want major appliances that can argue with us? Are there any jobs that won’t be automated? What new changes will emerging technologies bring to education – and what will never change about education? Can we actually afford the future
everyone keeps talking about? What are the really cool trends that are coming?

And in the May 2 keynote at 2:30 p.m., Will Miller, a comedian and psychotherapist, will focus on change. While most of us acknowledge that experiencing change is stressful, there is not a lot of clarity about what this means precisely. What kind of changes are we talking about? And in light of changes whose features and pace we cannot affect or control, what do we do in response? How do we cope? The best of current social science research indicates that all change, both good and bad, positive and negative, cause us to react and adapt. And inherent in these adaptation processes is stress – both physical and psychological. What do we do? What can we do?